Chapter 201: The New Inn

Qiu Nuoya could hardly contain his excitement.

Three years had passed since he came to this world. For all that time, he had wanted to eat sashimi, yet had never been able to.

And now, it was finally right there in front of him.

"The scraps around here would be delicious simmered with miso to make fish-head soup, but I suppose you wouldn’t have any miso..."

"I have some miso."

Qiu Nuoya took some miso out of his Magic Bag.

Well, it was more like a miso substitute. The plants that grew in this world were different from those in his original world, so it was impossible to make exactly the same thing. Still, as a fermented seasoning made from beans, Qiu Nuoya thought it was about as close as he could get.

"Then we could make fish head soup."

"I want some fish head soup too."

However, this was a diner, and there was a limit to how much they could alter the food they had been served. If they went that far, Qiu Nuoya felt it would be disrespectful to the restaurant’s cooks.

"Why don’t we take the scraps home?"

"That’s probably best."

People from all around the restaurant looked at them as if to say, What are you going to do with that garbage?

It’s such a waste! We know perfectly well that it can be turned into something delicious!

After that, the dishes served to Igor and Warren were also made by leaving the natural ingredients in their original state.

In other words, there was no seasoning at all.

They were simply hunks of meat.

I see. So beastmen prefer the natural flavor of the ingredients themselves.

Qiu Nuoya finally understood.

Long, who had been presented with a large piece of raw meat right in front of him, looked thoroughly pleased.

[ This meat is delicious. ]

Meanwhile, Igor and Warren looked slightly at a loss as they stared at the completely unseasoned hunks of meat before them, which tasted of nothing but the meat itself.

As for Qiu Nuoya, he finished every last piece of his sashimi.

Once he learned Purus, he should be able to make seafood rice bowls himself.

I’m looking forward to make some new dishes from now on!

After leaving Paws & Claws Eatery, Qiu Nuoya and the others headed to their lodging for the night.

Cider Orchard was both a tourist destination and a stopover town, so there were all kinds of inns available, ranging from modest accommodations to luxurious hotels. However, as adventurers themselves, they somehow felt more comfortable staying somewhere like a hostel where other adventurers gathered than in a clean, lavish hotel.

Besides, ordinary people did not seem to use the more prestigious hotels very often, so staying in one made Qiu Nuoya feel somewhat out of place.

The inn they chose this time was somewhere between a hotel and a hostel. It offered both private rooms and shared rooms with other guests. Private rooms were fairly expensive, while staying in a shared room was considerably cheaper.

The shared kitchen and bathrooms reminded Qiu Nuoya of the adventurer only shared house where he had once lived in Coalora City. This inn was probably meant to serve much the same purpose.

Back then, he had shared a room with Igor and Viktor, making three people in total. Now Warren and Xiao Tao had joined them, bringing the number to five. Long did not count since he returned to sleep at night.

"I would personally prefer a private room without any strangers..."

"In that case, perhaps a five person room?"

Qiu Nuoya told the receptionist what they wanted and asked if they had such a room available.

Unfortunately, they were told that there were no five person rooms.

The available options were single rooms, twin rooms, and triple rooms, followed by six person shared rooms. If five people wanted to stay together, the remaining bed in the shared room would be assigned to another guest.

Qiu Nuoya asked whether they could simply pay for all six beds and have the entire room to themselves, but the receptionist explained that some people lived there permanently, so the shared room could not be rented out exclusively.

After discussing it, Qiu Nuoya and the others ultimately decided to rent two rooms, a twin room and a triple room, and split up between them.

That brought them to the next problem: deciding who would share each room.

For security reasons, Viktor initially suggested that he, Qiu Nuoya, and Xiao Tao stay together in the triple room.

Qiu Nuoya had no particular objection to the arrangement.

"Why?"

The one who objected was Igor.

"What are you planning to do with two pretty boys at your side?" Igor was clearly joking, but for some reason, Xiao Tao looked frightened.

The reason was that Viktor had always been rather harsh in the way he spoke and acted. He was also particularly hard on Warren, whom Xiao Tao had inexplicably come to trust.

As a result, Xiao Tao had apparently formed the impression that Viktor was the scariest person in the entire party.

So, if possible, he said he would rather share a room with Warren.

Well, considering their appearances, there was nothing particularly strange about Qiu Nuoya, Viktor, and Xiao Tao sharing a room. After all, the twin and triple rooms were the same size, with the only difference being the number of beds. The twin room was therefore more spacious, so giving that room to the older members of the group, at least in terms of their actual ages, made sense.

Naturally, Viktor was not particularly pleased with that idea.

Since Qiu Nuoya had already said that he would take care of Xiao Tao, it seemed only natural for the two of them to share a room. That narrowed down their options considerably, and they ultimately decided that Qiu Nuoya and Xiao Tao would take the twin room, while Igor, Viktor, and Warren would stay in the triple room.